4 Social Media Lessons NOT to Learn From #BMWstories

November 22, 2014

BMW is often cited as one of the best brands in the world and the company continues to launch a stream of innovative products. I am a fan myself. But the brand is definitely not an architectural masterpiece when it comes to social media campaigns or may be this one in particular. BMW India was running a campaign on their Twitter & Facebook assets with the hashtag #BMWstories, when I saw it being promoted on my timeline I was excited to give it a look and participate; but once I started following the campaign, I was more disappointed than anything else. I felt a lack of connection that could be developed and also lack of execution. Thus adding this to DI’s social media lessons segment I will be doing my personal take on it, 4 social media lessons brands must NOT learn from this campaign #BMWstories.

1. Understand the Audience

It’s no news that BMW is not for the masses, we all know that! But when they are promoting this campaign they should have targeted those audiences who own the car or fall in that category who can afford it as only they can share/will have any story. I noticed a lot of tweets with the hashtag talking about that they can’t afford the brand. A lot of people who have stumbled across this trend have shared quirky tweets for the same.

Unlike #iPhone6 cannot afford despite selling my kidney.. #BMWStories — AntiHero (@R__PK) November 20, 2014

Can’t afford one right now….End of my #BMWStories! — Deep (@Deep2065) November 20, 2014

#BMWStories, I can’t afford it, the end! — Aditya Labhe (@adi_mera_naam) November 20, 2014

@bmwindia #BMWStories Brace yourselves ! Terribly tiny tales of not being able to afford a BMW are coming. — Lee-is-On (@asli_lee) November 20, 2014

#BMWStories. Dear BMW please support me financially to get a BMW then every night will tell yu so many stories — Karthik Sridhar (@ashokarthik) November 19, 2014

Ofcourse there are other tweets where owners shared great appreciation but most of the tweets from India are like the ones I shared above.

2. Promote if it Packs a Punch

They have promoted their campaign in the trending section of Twitter, but it doesn’t pack a punch they only state that people need to share their #BMWstories with this hashtag and not much has been stated if through videos, images or text only! Apart from that if I would be running this campaign, instead of a generic Promoted hashtag trend I would do a promoted tweet/hashtag on various search keywords and other competitor keywords. I would also be promoting it on Facebook with more precise targeting that can be done via Facebook Power editor.

3. Be active while you are running the Campaign

Whenever you’re running a campaign it is of vital importance to give a pep talk to your followers which encourage more participation. On both their social channels, Facebook & Twitter they have pinned the tweet/post and it has become more of a DIY campaign where their followers will tumble upon this development and participate (that’s what they are hoping). On the contrary they need to tweet and send out gratitude to participants, which will then encourage participation. And not just retweeting about the campaign. I hardly see they talking to user stories on daily basis. Just 1 or 2 isn’t enough.

4. Fool-Proof Execution

Before you launch your campaign you need to make sure that all your links, the text, images and everything has been double checked before being shared on your social assets. BMW India has made a really silly mistake; the link which they have pinned on their Twitter & Facebook doesn’t exist. Thus their followers have to literally scroll down and find the appropriate link for the same. Not sure how many people will take that much pain.

BMW is not only about cars.It’s about individual experiences.Share yours with #BMWstories Watch Sachin’s BMW story:http://t.co/nOUSkDuIAX — BMW India (@bmwindia) November 17, 2014

Good thing?

I was happy see their campaign landing page fully responsive and working smoothly on iPad and smartphones. Also they have mentioned about the campaign on first look at their site (which many brands miss). It is incredibly shocking that such a prestigious brand which has the latest state of the art technology and incredible finis, fails to transfer the same brand image on their social networks. Thus, you must avoid making such mistakes like these Indian brands and concentrate on your marketing efforts which will help you yield positive results. And most importantly when you’re running a campaign you must go through each and every detail to the platform as well as execution, because social media is extremely unforgivable if anyone gets wind of your wrong doings it will be splashed all over the web. What do you think of BMW India’s campaign #BMWstories? Do share your insights with us below. Digital & Social Articles on Business 2 Community